About me

You will be welcome to bring any issues you have into the room. This is a safe, warm and professional environment for you to explore the problems you are experiencing. Working together we will see appropriate change which will give you the energy to cope with the difficulties you have. Our work can be focused and short term or you can look to resolve long term issues over a suitable period of time.

I work with anxiety, depressed states, relationship issues, couples counselling, family matters, losses anger and bereavement counselling. I am a specialist addictions counsellor for food, gambling drugs, alcohol pornography and OCD. I coach students and professionals to prepare essays/reports and to do presentations and job interviews.

You can contact me from anywhere in the world, using Skype, telephone, e-mail and the encrypted chat-line on my web-site or you can have a comfortable face to face experience, with a warm welcome, a cup of tea in what feels like a garden, with the air, light, plants and crystals around you. I will visit you in your homes where appropriate.

I offer a safe, confidential, ethical and effective practice. Just call or text me to arrange an appointment.

Relationships

I work with people who are in relationships that are distressing them or who would like to meet new people and form a more stable set of friends. There are tremendous opportunities for growth when relationship dynamics are addressed.

I work with couples, either with one member of the couple or with both. It is a very open and helpful experience to learn to listen again and take notice of where your partner is coming from. In a structured working together you can make progress in seeing what direction is going to suit you both.

Anxiety and Anger

Anxiety is a normal protective response which has moved away from the control of the person who is experiencing it and is restricting the activitities and enjoyment they could be having. Anxiety is closely linked to anger and many people who worry about their anger management can find relief when their anxiety issues are addressed. Anxiety attacks are frightening in themselves and it is very satisfactory to see a person released from anxiety. Relieving anxiety leads to a transformation in the enjoyment of life and a capacity to go forwards in new directions.

Addictions

Addictions cover a wide range of substances and activities which are chemically and emotionally re-inforcing, which causes repetitive behaviour which can be damaging and comes to operate outside of the control of the person concerned. So we are looking at misuse of alcohol, drugs, steroids, prescription drugs, eating, that is either over eating, being sick as well as not eating as in anorexia. We are also looking at Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, over exercising, computer games, gambling, misuse of pornography, or sexual relationships.

The goal is to create a life style that is more in balance and repair the damage to self esteem which these addictions create. We hope to see a confident and creative person, move away from addiction to a life that is more worthwhile for them. I am a specialist alcohol worker and work with family members as well as individuals concerned about their own behaviour.

Student Coaching

I enjoy helping students or professionals to get themselves down on paper in essays or reports or to make effective presentations. It takes confidence to do this effectively and I have helped people to get through tough examinations and job interviews. It is a combination of working with the individual’s blocks to self presentation, finding the right way of working, getting a focused plan and clarifying the motivation to succeed. If you are working on a project special to you, give me a ring and see whether we can work together. I will give real support down to editing and discussing the ideas you have.

Working by telephone and e-mail contact

People have busy lives, so I am glad to provide different ways of approaching counselling, and to discuss with you the effectiveness of working on-line as well as having face to face sessions. Each way has benefits and you can be surprised at the effectiveness of a mixture of e-mail and telephone sessions, or how useful it is to use Skype (jill.edwards272) or chat-line instead of face to face work. Give me a call to talk over what kind would suit you. There will be a warm welcome where-ever you are.

Feeling it is the right person

I would like you to feel you can get on with the person you contact for counselling, so I am happy to hear from you by e-mail and I will meet briefly with you for an introductory chat or have a conversation on the phone in which you can let me know what it is that you are looking for. It is also worth while looking at my website at www.invitationtotalk.co.uk. You will find out more about me there.

Contact by:

Telephone: 07948354827E-mail: talkthatsings2U@gmail.com

Training, qualifications & experience

I am a BACP Accredited counsellor, with training in person-centred, narrative, CBT and Acceptance and Commitment therapy and a Masters degree in Counselling. I have a diploma with See for Miles Ltd for Couples Counselling. I am trained to work on-line or by telephone. I am a specialist alcohol counsellor and work with family members as well as individuals who understand they have a problem with alcohol.

My clients have told me they find the experience both enjoyable and challenging and that the difficult times bring much positive relief for them.

I have been working as a counsellor now for 10 years and have experience of working with complex issues and providing a safe and supportive experience.

Other areas of counselling I deal with

I have training in CBT, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Narrative Therapy, But over the years these have become integrated so that we can focus on what you need in any particular session and for however long you would like to work with me. I wish to provide a specialised treatment structure which gives you what you need at this particular time.

CBT is highly structured and has a focus on the thoughts you have and how these can be changed. It helps you to monitor improvement in your situation as you begin to feel better.

Narrative Therapy, an opportunity to review and restructure the way you see your life. If you would like more information about this open-ended and sensitive way of working then you can look on-line at the website:www.dulwichcentre.com.au

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), a powerful way to get to where you want to get to are useful ways in which you might like to work. There is a good article called Embracing Your Demons: an Overview of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy by Dr Russ Harris at www.actmindfully.com.au

Published articles

Further information

In my practice, you will have the benefit of ethical and confidential working in line with BACP accreditation. You will have the benefit of a privacy agreement in line with the GDPR legislation.

If you are speaking to me from outside the United Kingdom, you should take note that I will be following the legal provisions as they apply to the UK, and if there are any significant differences then we need to discuss that to ensure you are operating safely.

In my regular supervision sessions to keep my practice safe with you, I would not offer any identifiable details from our work together. However in the event of serious illness, I will arrange for my supervisor to contact you to ensure that you were able to make a safe transition to other support.

While I would make every reasonable effort to ensure that our on-line work is secure, It is true to say that in the current environment we cannot absolutely ensure complete confidentiality on any known digital platform, and you also would have to take care that you keep your digital devices safe from intrusion.